Do Processed Foods and Beverages Increase the Risk of Cancer?

The health effects of processed food and food additives on health. Media reports that ultratreated foods can increase cancer risk include a broad cohort of therapy conducted toexamine the relationship between treatment and cancer on the skin of 104,980 adults inFrance.

Individuals participating in the research are followed between 2009 and 2017, and their foodconsumption for 24 hours is taken online once every 6 months. In addition to theirconsumption, demographic and lifestyle characteristics such as gender, age, health status,smoking status, body mass index, family history of cancer, socio-economic status andphysical activity level are evaluated. How their health status is changed and their clinicalopportunities are followed every year.

What do the results of the research say?

NOVA classification is the classification that divides food and beverages into 4 groupsaccording to the nature, purpose and degree of the processing method applied to them.Using the NOVA classification of food and drink, the researchers categorize food and drinkinto four groups based on the level of processing. It represented the highest level of "ultraprocessed" (mass-produced bread and cakes, snacks, sugar-containing foods, sodas, readymeals and meat products were considered in this group) food and drink. In the diet, it isreported that for every 10% increase in ultra-processed food consumption, there is a 12%increase in cancer risk. When the risk of cancer types is analyzed separately, there is an 11%increase in the risk of breast cancer, while there is no increase in the risk of colon andprostate cancer. It is stated that breast cancer may increase in the postmenopausal period.There is no association between the consumption of processed foods such as cannedvegetables, salted meats, cheese that contain salt or sugar and cancer risk. Consumption of“lowly processed or unprocessed food” is associated with a lower risk of cancer. It isdetermined that with every 10% increase in the consumption of these foods in the diet, therisk of cancer decreases by 9%.

Food consumption and lifestyle, which are questioned at regular intervals, arevariable: Food consumption and lifestyle vary. Although the researchers aim to evaluate thefood consumption of individuals both on weekdays and on weekends, the evaluation stillreflects 24-hour-1 daily consumption, so it may not reflect general dietary habits andconsumption.

Limited factors that may play a role in cancer risk were considered: It is not known howfactors that may play an important role in cancer risk, such as various environmentalcarcinogens, radiation, viral and other infections, and exposure to harmful sun rays, affect theresults.

There is strong evidence that breast, prostate, and bowel cancers are associated with diet,but in this study, high ultra-processed food consumption was only associated with breast andoverall cancer risk.

There is evidence that certain foods and nutritional components may be associated withdifferent cancer risks, but in this study, foods were classified based on how processed theywere, regardless of their nutritional content. Therefore, a wide range of foods, fromconfectionery to processed meats, whole-grain breads to whole-grain breakfast cereals, havebeen rated as “ultra-processed”.

What are the authorities saying?

• European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) guidelines; It specifies the amount ofcarbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins that should be collected daily and recommendsconsuming fresh vegetables or fruits every day for 5 years. EFSA does not declare aconsumption period or an upper limit for ultra-processed foods and beverages.
• One of the important targets of the European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020 isthe realization of food and beverage environments and storage that will promote health. Inthis way, the content of the food and beverages produced can be increased.
• The World Fund for Cancer Research (WCRF) continues to broadly diversify between diet,lifestyle and cancer risk.
• Based on the available findings, WCRF also makes recommendations such as avoidinghigh-energy foods and sugary drinks, limiting salt intake, limiting consumption of processedand red meat, and consuming more plant-based foods.
• Healthy food and nutritional components, although cancer risk has progressed, treatmenthas not been scientifically demonstrated to increase cancer risk per se.

Ways to Reduce Processed Food Consumption

• Keep healthy snacks on hand.
• Replace refined grains with whole grains.
• Being creative in the kitchen protects you from unprocessed foods.
• Change the way you shop.
• Eating more vegetables means you'll get less processed food.
• Eat less processed meat.
• Replace some of your simple favorite processed foods with alternatives.
• Make changes slowly